Check-out device



May 14, 1968 H. F. DENNISON CHECK-OUT DEVICE Filed June 7, 1966 zm/mvq og 1 y F Den 1266017..

H15 a rmagA ry United States Patent 01 3,383,504 CHECK-OUT DEVICE Henry F. Dennison, London, England, assignor to Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company Limited, London, England Filed June 7, 1966, Ser. No. 555,839 14 Claims. (Cl. 246-449) This invention relates generally to an improved checkoutdevice for objects moving along a predetermined path and more particularly to a detachable vehicle-carried marker for proving that the last railway vehicle of a train has passed a selected designated point along the track and for insuring that an unauthorized vehicle or vehicles have not been accidentally coupled to the rear of the train.

More specifically, this invention relates to end-of a-train apparatus for only indicating the passage of a perfect train (wherein the term perfect signifies that the train makeup has neither too many nor too few railwary vehicles) involving the use of a uniquely controlled inductive arrangement which is only capable of signalling the departure of the perfect train from a selected track section thereafter permitting authorized entry of oncoming traffic into the track section.

While numerous train detecting and reporting systems and check-out arrangements for signaling the passage of a complete train, for example, in a manual block or other non-trackcircuited sections of track, have been previously proposed, it is noted that these former proposals are not entirely satisfactory in that precautionary measures have not been extended to include the possible coupling and subsequent loss of an unauthorized railway vehicle from the rear of the train. For example, many kinds of devices, such as, permanent magnets and inductive coils, etc., have been attached to and carried by the rear end of the last vehicle of a train for cooperating with suitable wayside appartus which signals the pass-age of the last vehicle of a complete or intact train from the track section. It is quite obvious that the uncoupling or loss of a last vehicle within the track section in such prior art systems is readily detected in that the passage of the remaining portion of the train has no effect on the wayside apparatus. Accordingly, the particular track section remained un-cleared thereby alerting subsequent traffic that a dangerous or hazardous condition exists therein. However, in reviewing these conventional systems it is readily noted they are only capable of detecting the loss of the last authorized vehicle of a train or, in other words, the loss of the vehicle-carried device. However, an occasion may arise in which an unauthorized railway vehicle is inadvertently coupled to the last vehicle of the train so that the loss of the unauthorized vehicle within the track section would also create a hazard to other traffic. Since no provision was made for such a possibility in the prior art train-end arrangements, the coupling of an unauthorized vehicle as well as its uncoupling from the train normally remained undetected. However, since loss of an unauthorized vehicle is equally as dangerous to oncoming traflic as loss of any other vehicle of a a train, it is essential that safeguards be employed to readily detect and report the incompleteness as well as any excessiveness of a train makeup. It is also advantageous from the standpoint of savings to readily detect such an unauthorized coupling in order to quickly return the unauthorized vehicle to its original and proper location.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a new and improved end of a train check-out device.

A further object of this invention is to provide a unique vehicle-carried marker for only indicating the passage of a perfect train.

A still further object of this invention is to provide 3,383,504 Patented May 14, 1968 "ice an improved end of a train check-out device which is rendered ineffective by the addition of an unauthorized vehicle to the rear of the last vehicle of a train.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a novel end-ofa-train indicator which functions with asso ciated wayside apparatus to provide a signal indicative of the last vehicle of a train when and only when the train is intact and no unauthorized vehicle has previously or presently been coupled to the rear of the last vehicle of a train.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved end of a train check-out device which is detachably secured to the last vehicle of a train in such a manner that the coupling of an unauthorized vehicle to the last vehicle of the train renders the device ineffective until appropriate action is taken by authorized personnel.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved inductive-type end-of-a-train vehiclecarried indicator which is ineffective due to the loss of the last vehicle of the train or which is rendered ineffective by the coupling of an unauthorized vehicle to the last vehicle of the train.

Still yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved detachable vehicle-carried indicator which is simple in design, economical to manufacture, efiicient in operation and endurable in use.

The above objectives are achieved in accordance with the present invention by providing vehicle-carried apparatus detachably secured to the rear of the last vehicle of a train in proper passing relationship with suitable wayside apparatus located at a preselected point along the track so that a signal is produced when and only when the last vehicle of a perfect train passes the preselected point. Specifically, the vehiclecarried apparatus includes a circuit having an inert coil tuned to a particular frequency which is effective as it passes the wayside apparatus, such as two powered coils, to cause mutual inductive coupling to exist between the wayside coils whereby a signal is generated which is indicative of the fact that a tuned coil has passed the preselected wayside point. The vehicle-carried apparatus and, in turn, the tuned coil, is preferably suspended by means of a bifurcated hook-like bracket from the automatic coupler of the last vehicle of the train. The vehicle-carried apparatus also includes a latch-type pivotal flap which is mechanically connected to and cooperates with normally-closed contacts of a suitable switch, for example, a micro-switch. Accordingly, the micro-switch is normally effective in establishing a closed circuit for the tuned coil. However, when the last authorized vehicle of the train comes in contact with and couples to an unauthorized vehicle, the coupler of the unauthorized vehicle is efiective in shifting and latching the pivotal flap which, in turn, causes the contacts of the micro-switch to open so that the tuned coil circuit is interrupted. Accordingly, when the last authorized vehicle of the train passes the location of the two wayside coils, the vehicle-carried apparatus is not effective in mutually coupling the two wayside coils so that no signal is generated and the block section is not cleared and remains in an occupied condition. Similarly, the loss of the last vehicle of a train within the block section produces .the same effect since the passing of the remaining portion of the train has no effect on the wayside apparatus.

It is convenient to first point out the preferred embodiment of the present invention and then set forth the novel features thereof in claims.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof illus. tratcd in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a section of railroad track having wayside signal apparatus, an unauthorized railway vehicle, and the last vehicle of a train which carries the vehicle-carried apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the electrical form of the vehicle-carried apparatus embodying the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a section of track having rails 1a and 1b which may be defined as the exit end of a block section assuming that trains normally move in the direction of the arrow A. The wayside apparatus which includes a pair of inductive coils (not shown) and usually an oscillatoramplifier is suitably positioned at a preselected location or point along the track. As shown, the pair of coils are enclosed within a protective housing 4 which is suitably disposed intermediate to track rails 1a and 1b and securely mounted in any suitable manner to the adjacent cross ties 2. The two wayside coils are suitably connected to an oscillator-amplifier 6 by lead or cable and may be conveniently termed, as an input and an output coil of the feedback circuit, The oscillator-amplifier 6, in turn, may be connected to the central office by either conventional line wires or any other suitable communication link, such as, radio, microwave, etc. It will be assumed that the input and output coils are so constructed and adjusted that during absence of a tuned coil 9 little, if any, inductive coupling exists between the coils so that the oscillatoramplifier is normally not producing a signal. That is, the two wayside coils may be connected in the feedback loop of the oscillator in such a fashion that insufiicient feedback normally exists except during the presence of the tuned coil 9 which starts the oscillator-amplifier 6 to oscillate at a preselected resonant frequency. It is understood that the oscillator-amplitier 6 may be so adjusted to normally oscillate and that the oscillations cease during the presence of the coil 9.

In order to insure that the passing of the tuned coil is effective in causing the wayside apparatus to produce an end-of-a-train signal, the vehicle-carried apparatus 11 is normally positioned in the last authorized vehicle of the train, as shown, railway vehicle 10. That is, the tuned coil 9, which is protected and housed within a suitable box-like casing, constructed of appropriate material, is normally disposed on the rear-end of the last vehicle of the train in such a manner that it will pass near the wayside coils but with suflicient clearance thereof. As shown, the vehiclecarried apparatus 11 is suspended from the automatic coupler 12 of the last vehicle by means of a bifurcated hook-like metallic bracket 13. Further as shown, the vehicle-carried apparatus 11 also includes a bifurcated pivotal flap 14 having a facing of shock absorbent material, such as sponge rubber. The function and operation of the pivotal flap 14 will be described in more detail hereinafter. Also shown in FIG. 1 is a second vehicle 16, which may be termed an unauthorized railway vehicle, to the rear of the last vehicle 10 of the train. Vehicle 16 is provided with an automatic coupler 17 having a hook portion 18 which may suitably engage and mate with the coupler 12 of vehicle 10.

The electrical details of the vehicle-carried apparatus 11 are shown in FIG. 2 and simply consist of a tuning capacitor 20 and a controllable switch 21 in series with the coil 9. The capacitor 20 is employed in tuning the series circuit to the predetermined resonant frequency of the oscillator-amplifier 6. In its normal position, the switch 21 assumes a closed position for completing the series tuned circuit. The switch 21 is mechanically connected through a latching device 22 of any suitable type, such as, a toggle and lock mechanism, to the flap 14. The pivotal flap 14 is illustrated as being slightly out of vertical which may be termed, a first normal position. Accordingly, the condition of the switch 21 is determined by the position of the flap 14 and, as shown the switch 21 is normally closed when the flap is in its inclined position. Conversely, switch 21 is arranged to open and interrupt the tuned series circuit when the flap is moved to its vertical position. The latching mechanism 22 operates and functions to insure that the flap 14 and, in turn, the switch 21 remain in their vertical and open positions, respectively. That is, once the flap 14 has been moved to its vertical position and switch 21 becomes opened, the latching mechanism 22 retains the fiap and switch in their respective positions until manually restored by some authorized personnel.

In describing the operation, it will be initially assumed that the unauthorized vehicle is not present and that the train is intact and the last vehicle is nearing the exitend of the track section. Further, it is assumed that wayside apparatus is properly functioning and that the elements of the vehicle-carried apparatus are in the positions as shown in the drawing. Accordingly, the passing of the last vehicle 10 and, in turn, the tuned circuit of the vehicle-carried apparatus 11 causes mutual coupling to exist between the two feedback coils so that the oscillatoramplifier 6 of the way side apparatus generates a signal indicating that the end of the train has passed the wayside location. The end-of-a-train signal permits an operator at the central ofiice to clear the track section so that oncoming traffic may safely proceed through the track section.

It is quite obvious that the uncoupling or loss of the last vehicle 10, by itself, or with other railway vehicles of the train, causes the track section to remain in an occupied condition. That is, the uncoupling of the last vehicle, and particularly, the loss of the vehicle-carried apparatus 11 renders the wayside apparatus incapable of producing a signal even though the remaining portion of the train vacates the track section. Accordingly, the op erator at the central ofiice does not receive the necessary OS signal for clearing the track section, and the track section remains occupied as though a complete train was therein.

As previously mentioned, a potentially hazardous condition to oncoming trafiic arises when an unauthorized railway vehicle, such as vehicle 16, is inadvertently coupled to the last vehicle of a train, such as vehicle 10 and which unauthorized vehicle subsequently breaks-away from the end of the train and thereafter remains within the track section. For example, let us assume that an unauthorized vehicle becomes inadvertently coupled to the last vehicle of the train, that is, vehicle 16 couples to vehicle 10. The mating hook portion 18 of coupler 17 initially engages and moves the flap 14 to its vertical position as the two railway vehicles come together and are subsequently coupled. The movement of the flap 14 to its vertical position is transmitted through mechanical link and latch 22 to cause the switch 21 to move to its second or open position. Accordingly, the opening of the switch 21 interrupts the series tuned circuit and renders the vehicle-carried apparatus 11 ineifective so that the passing of the train has no eitect on the wayside coils. Obviously, since an OS signal is not produced by the passage of the end of the train for clearing the track section, no signal is available at the central ofiice for clearing the track section. As previously mentioned, the latching mechanism 22 insures that once the flap 14 is moved to its vertical position by the coupler of an unauthorized vehicle and the switch 21 becomes opened, it remains in the open position even though the unauthorized vehicle may be later lost. That is, since the loss of an unknown unauthorized vehicle within a block section is equally as dangerous as any other vehicle, it is essential that the operator at the central office be incapable of clearing the particular track section during such an occasion. Accordingly, the latching mechanism 22 is so constructed and arranged that the flap 14 and switch 21 are retained in the vertical and open positions, respectively, until manually reset by an authorized person who is aware of the situation.

As is readily apparent from the foregoing description, this unique vehicle-carried apparatus provides a system which insures the highest degree of protection against injury to personnel and damage to equipment due to not only the uncoupling of authorized railway vehicles from the rear of a train but also the possible addition and/ or subsequent loss of an unauthorized vehicle from the rear of the train. Accordingly, safer as well as more efficient train operation may be realized byemploying and endof-a-train indicating arrangement embodying the present invention.-

It is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, the flap 14 may be replaced by other suitable two-position devices, such as, a ramp, a lever, push-button, etc. Similarly, the vehicle-carried apparatus may be so arranged and constructed to be suspended from the buffers rather than the coupler of the last vehicle of the train. Further, the specific details of such features as coil design and its relative placement as well as various mechanical linkages are considered well within the scope of this invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many other alterations and modifications of the apparatus shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit and essence of the invention, and therefore it is intended that all matter contained herein be interpreted as illustrative and not restrictive.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A check-out device carried by a vehicle moving along a predetermined path, said device comprising means for signaling the passage of the vehicle at a given location along the path, and means for rendering said signaling means ineffective when an additional vehicle comes in coupling relationship with the vehicle carrying said device.

2. A check-out device as defined in claim 1, wherein said signaling means includes a tuned resonant circuit.

3. A checkout device as defined in claim 1, wherein said signaling means includes a switch-controlled series tuned resonant circuit.

4. A check-out device as defied in claim 1, wherein said signaling means includes at least one coil tuned to a preselected resonant frequency.

5. A check-out device as defined in claim 1, wherein said means for rendering said signaling means ineffective includes a two-position device which is moved from a first to a second position by said additional vehicle.

d. A check-out device as defined in claim 5, wherein said two-position device comprises a pivotal flap.

7. A check-out device as defined in claim 4, wherein said means for rendering said signaling means ineffective includes a two-position device mechanically connected to the switch of said series tuned circuit for opening the contacts of said switch when said additional vehicle comes in coupling relationship with said vehicle carrying said device.

8. A check-out device as defined in claim 7, wherein the mechanical connection between said two-position device and said switch includes a latching mechanism for retaining said contacts in their open position.

9. A check-out device as defined in claim 1, wherein said signaling means includes a tuned circuit having at least one inert coil and a series connected switch, and said means for rendering said signaling means ineffective includes a pivotal fiap engageable by said additional vehicle and a latching mechanism interconnecting said switch and pivotal flap for opening said switch and interrupting said tuned circuit when said flap is engaged by said additional vehicle.

16. A check-out device as defined in claim 9, wherein said latching mechanism retains said switch open until manually reset.

11. A detachable end-of-a-train indicator for signaling the passage of the last vehicle of a train by inductively influencing wayside apparatus located at a preselected point along the track, the indicator carried by the coupler of the last vehicle and comprising a series circuit having at least one coil and a normally-closed switch for completing said series circuit, a pivotal flap adapted to move between a first and a second position, and a latching mechanism mechanically connecting said pivotal flap to said switch whereby the coupler of an additional vehicle is effective in engaging and moving said pivotal flap from said first to said second position thereby opening said switch through said latching mechanism which retains said switch in its open position so that said series circuit is interrupted and said coil is unable to inductively infiuence the wayside apparatus when the last vehicle passes the preselected point along the track.

12. A detachable end-of-a-train indicator as set forth in claim 11, wherein a bracket suspends the indicator from the coupler of the last vehicle.

13. A detachable end-of-a-train indicator as set forth in claim 11, wherein said series circuit comprises a tuned resonant circuit.

14. An inductive type last vehicle marker which is incapable of signaling the passage of train having too many or too few railway vehicles comprising, a hook-like bracket for suspending the marker from the last vehicle, an electrical circuit having a coil tuned to resonate at a preselected frequency and a switch for completing and interrupting said electrical circuit, a pivotal flap movable between an inclined and a vertical position, and a latch mechanism mechanically linking said pivotal flap and said switch for controlling the electrical circuit in accordance with the position of said pivotal flap.

No references cited.

EUGENE G. BOTZ, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CHECK-OUT DEVICE CARRIED BY A VEHICLE MOVING ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING MEANS FOR SIGNALING THE PASSAGE OF THE VEHICLE AT A GIVEN LOCATION ALONG THE PATH, AND MEANS FOR RENDERING SAID SIGNALING MEANS INEFFECTIVE WHEN AN ADDITIONAL VEHICLE COMES IN COUPLING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE VEHICLE CARRYING SAID DEVICE. 